


The Admiration of a Spice

by lesandwichpants



Series: The 23rd Doctor [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Doctor Who References, Gen, doctor who adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-07
Updated: 2014-02-07
Packaged: 2018-01-11 10:55:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesandwichpants/pseuds/lesandwichpants





	The Admiration of a Spice

"Ginger." The Doctor called from the control panel room. He let me stay on one of the several hundred guest rooms. I was on my phone. Surprisingly, I got reception here.

"Yes?" I called out. 

"No. Not you." Ok, then.

~*~

"Ginger." the Doctor whispered. We were eating at a fancy Tokey restaurant. Tokey is some alien race. It tastes similar to Mongolian food besides the fact they have something that tastes like the bark of trees as dessert.

"Yes?" I reply with my mouth still full.

"No, no. Not you." Alright, then.

~*~

"Ginger." he says. We were in line for the scariest roller coaster in the galaxy. It's called "God" because several of the passengers meet him after the ride ends. Behind us was a family of giant, slimy frog-looking creatures. One of them kept sniffing us, letting out a puff of smoke every time it exhaled.

"Yes, Doctor?"

"What? I didn't call you." Oh... He clearly did.

~*~

"And the award goes to..." The announcer was opening the envelope. It's definitely not Leonardo DiCaprio. "Forest Whitaker!" The crowd goes crazy. I can almost hear the tears welling up in not-an-Oscar-winner's eyes.

"Ginger." the Doctor whispers. We dressed fancy and sat in the back seats of the awards ceremony. It was barely audible with all the commotion. I didn't bother saying anything this time.

"Hm. Ginger." he whispers again after the audience settles down.

"What is it, Doctor?"

"Oh, what? I wasn't calling you." I cocked my head in confusion. I heard him crystal clear.

~*~

The event was over, and the Doctor and I went back to the TARDIS. "Ok, Doctor. What's up? Why are you calling my name so many times? You've been doing that all week. Why?"

"I wasn't calling for you or trying to get your attention. I was simply saying your name." he shrugged and started fiddling with the buttons on the control panel. "Is that so wrong?" he says without looking at me.

"No," I approach him, "but I want to know why. Why are you so caught up with that?"

"Well, it's just your name...."

"What about my name?"

"It's, I don't know, a... delicacy."

"I'm not sure I understand you, Doctor."

"You're name is Ginger. Ginger like the Spice found on Earth. Ginger like the useful ginger root with several medical purposes. It's intriguing. Your name is nothing like you."

"Oh, is that so?" He was being sassy now. Insulting my name; how dare he? "You're not exactly a doctor, either."

"A doctor can mean a number of things, not just the career."

"What's your point?"

"My point is... You could be like one of those... Oh, bugger, what are they called?" I didn't expect to hear him say, "Oh, of course. Spice girls. Love them. I think you're qualified."

I held a face of disgust for the longest time possible. So many things were going on. He likes the Spice girls, makes the connection that my name is a spice, and thinks I am "qualified" to be one.

"I want to take you somewhere. Planet of the coffee shops to be exact."

"Sure. I should warn you I'm not that into coffee. Not since like the beginning of my college years."

"That must've been ages ago, then."

"That was only like three years ago."

"Whoa, wait. How old are you?" He stops with the controls and faces me, a serious look on his face.

"I'm 24, Doctor."

"Oh, I thought you were 35."

"What?! What made you think that?"

"Well, lack of makeup, mostly. You also think too much about the consequences of your actions. Your short hair makes you look older." This was all new to me. I've never heard anyone complain about my looks. Not that I've had anyone to talk about them in the first place, but still.

"Who are you? Sherlock Holmes?"

"I've actually met the lad. Interesting man."

"Doctor, he's a fictional character."

"Well, where do you think people got the idea of a genius detective from? He's not entirely a myth. Besides, it doesn't take a detective to gather conclusions about your appearance."

"Doctor, shut up. I was going for a Keira Knightley look at the time."

~*~

"Planet of the coffee shops. Brilliant planet." I dressed in a yellow turtleneck, jeans, and the purple converse shoes I adore; the Doctor was in his usual ridiculous outfit: black tie, blue pants, etc. I go outside the TARDIS. "You know they even have Starbucks here? One of your earthly coffee shops made it onto the planet of the best coffee shops in the universe." He went outside with me. "Or not."

We were in a huge building. There were several other races being pulled on things resembling wheelchairs and tables with wheels. The people carrying the others were dressed in white robes. They were humanoid form with 2 legs and 2 arms, but their skin was white and scaly. It looked like a hospital. The patients varied in species.

The doctor dragged me back in. "Come on; let's go before someone recognizes me."

"Are you really that famous?" I scoffed.

"Yes."

~*~

I open the doors once more only to be attacked by a flood of water making its way in the TARDIS. I ended up on the other side of the room. "Sorry," the Doctor says, "I forgot to extend the TARDIS shield." There was about an inch of water covering the floor and fish everywhere. I was dripping wet and gave the Doctor a pissed-off look. He just chuckled. He was, of course, somehow dry.

~*~

After drying myself off, I open the doors once again. We were in some sort of empty, concrete building. It was lit up, but there was no source of light anywhere. The Doctor was checking the monitors. "It's ok to go outside, you know? The TARDIS shi-" Before he was able to finish his sentence, I was attacked from behind, a critical blow to my head, and I passed out. 

~*~

I awoke bound to a chair. Something held my mouth together like duct tape; a bright light source pointing at me. It seemed like an interrogation, almost. Except, who was I being questioned by? I felt a throbbing pain at my left temple. My eyes strained to focus; the light was blinding. I hear a voice call out from behind the light, "State your calling clearly?" I'm not sure what he means by calling, and also, there was most likely tape over my mouth.

I felt something abruptly take off the tape, and my mouth immediately started stinging. I moved my jaw to get some feeling back into it. "I repeat," the being says in a masculine tone, "State your name."

"Gi-Ginger Mallory." I replied, my voice uneasy. There was almost a 100% chance I was not on Earth, and somehow, they are speaking English.

"Search the records!" he says.

"Yes, sir." another male voice replies, and I hear some footsteps to my right. It seemed that I was in the same building as before; it was the same architectural techniques as I've noticed before at the TARDIS. That isn't saying much because I'm basically in a hollow block made of cement. 

"Where am I?" I brought myself to ask.

"Unimportant." was all I got.

"Who are you?"

"Unimportant."

"Why am I here?" There was a pause. From beyond my field of vision, I could hear whispers and then, silence. "How are we communicating?"

"Explain."

"How can you speak the same language as me?"

"You, a foreign creature, speak our tongue. We should be asking you this question."

"I speak English. Are we on Earth?"

"I know not of this Earth you speak of. I presume English is what you call our language." Who are they? Are these people human? "Now tell us, how did you get here?"

"I don't know."

"Answer truthfully. Your life depends on it." I didn't respond. I heard some more footsteps.

"Sir," it was the one who left recently, "We have found her record. She is from the distant planet, Earth. She's a pure human!" Gasps could be heard. It seems there was an entire audience in the room.

"Excellent," the other said, "begin the preparation. Stage 1 is a go, people. Get to it now!" There were several footsteps now, and I could the creaking of doors. "That shall be all Ms. Mallory."

I was untied and the light shining on me was turned off. After letting my eyes adjust, I could see that these were all people -- normal human people. There was something a bit off about them. Both the males and females had thin, short hair and sickly pale skin as if they had some sort of fatal illness like cancer.

A woman with blonde hair and prominent cheeks welcomed me. "Ms. Mallory. Please make yourself at home here. We want you as comfortable as possible. We have beautiful flats here you can stay in and a variety of gourmet meals on our menu. We also offer free Wi-Fi and a complementary portable computer. As for clothing, our connoisseur in tailoring will check your measurements soon. In the meantime, please do not be alarmed. We are here to help."

I didn't know what to say. Her voice was so soothing like a mother singing nursery rhymes to her newborn. She showed me around the place. It was some sort of facility or factory except very well kept. She led me to some penthouses and apartment condos that all looked lovely inside and out. This whole place had hundreds of floors. The first floor was were the staff slept like the servants' quarters where she didn't allow me to go. The second floor had fancy, gourmet restaurants. The third with gardens. The fourth with churches; the fifth with theaters and so on.

The Doctor might like this -- oh, crap. The Doctor. "Excuse me, missus?" I interrupted. "I need to get back my friend. Have you seen him? He was wearing ridiculous clothes and has a blue police box. I need to get back to him." We were in an elevator that goes to some of the higher floors. "Can you take me back to were you've found me?"

"Why, we need you, Ms. Mallory." She put her hand on my shoulder. "Please make yourself at home here." Maybe, I was being a bit irrational. I mean, this place is paradise, right? Of course it is.

"Yes, ma'am."

~*~

It's been about 3 months since I've last seen the Doctor. I don't know what's going on. The T.V. shows are the same as back in my literal time. I hadn't even missed an episode of _American Horror Story_. I don't remember how I got here in the first place; it was nice at first, but then I felt a bit... Isolated? I'm not sure. I felt a bit like I wasn't in control of my actions, even though it was clear I could freely move my limbs and go anywhere in the building I want.

I had chosen a beautiful penthouse with an incredible, simulated bird's eye view of bustling city roads at night. Surprisingly, I've been keeping myself entertained for the last few months. I wonder where the Doctor is. He should've been at least a bit worried about my whereabouts by now. He wouldn't abandon me, would he? No, impossible. Nevertheless, I had to buzz for the lady.

There's a button next to the door of the house that informs the lady who showed me around to come and see me as soon as possible. She was knocking on the door in no more than a minute. "Come in!" I shout from the couch in the living room adjacent to the door.

"You called for me, Ms. Mallory?" She walked in the room wearing the same business suit from months ago. I didn't think to question it however.

"Yes, I was wondering about my friend. I believe I have mentioned him before to you months ago. I need to find him. Can you help me by maybe pointing me in the direction to the room in which we first met?"

"Of course, Ms. Mallory." She neared closer to me, I got up from my dreadfully comfortable position on the couch, and she looked me in the eyes. There was a lot of tension in that moment; she towered over me, but it was most likely the heels she was wearing. With her hand on my shoulder, she said, "Would you like some tea with that, Ms. Mallory?"

"Yes, ma'am. The microwave is over there. Unless you're making that British tea that's in packets. Also, could you fetch me some donuts right now? Thanks." I was famished.

"Yes, Ms. Mallory, at once." She went about her business, and I sat back on the couch. I was getting sort of lonely without the Doctor.

~*~

I buzzed for her. "Yes, Ms. Mallory?" She came in after knocking.

"I'm off to do some exploring on the levels, and I was just informing you."

"Yes. If you need anything along the way, just use your personalized cellular device." I nodded.

I already knew what was going on. Anytime I mentioned going back to find the Doctor, I'd soon forget about it. I had no idea about this until I got hold of security footage. I snuck into the first floor with staff, and I saw some of the security tapes. Every single time, she would hypnotize me or remove memories when she touched my shoulder. I had to find the Doctor this instant. Who knows if he was still here. It's been 7 months, and I'm still stuck here.

I headed off with my backpack full of the essentials when the lady stopped me. "Before you go, Ms. Mallory," She put a thumb to my forehead, "She is ready for Stage 2!" she shouted at nobody in particular. Several men in suits carried me away. I couldn't move; she must've paralyzed me. All I could do was blink furiously at that devilish grin of hers. 

I was brought to an empty room with a surrealistic pod like the a typical teleportation beam. They made me stand there, handcuffing my wrists and ankles and sealed the entrance of the pod. I was getting some feel back into my face and started shouting at my captors. "Don't you dare fucking touch me. Let me go! Why are you doing this." Neither of them acknowledged my presence. "You bastards, answer me!" I felt my knees give in. I can move now, and I started to struggle through my bonds. 

"What the hell is going on?" Both men walked towards some monitors with a keyboard and buttons. "Please, let me go." A gas was being released in this jailhouse. It wasn't harmful as far as I knew; it smelled like soap.

After the frantic button-pushing, the men said something about 3 in unison; it was a bit difficult to hear inside here. "Doctor, if you're still here, then right now would be a fucking great time to save me."

I spoke too soon because just then, the Doctor came rushing in pointing the sonic screwdriver at the men. They both raised their hands in defeat and ran away. Using his sonic screwdriver on the monitors, I was freed from my bonds, and the entrance of the pod opened. I ran and hugged the Doctor.

"Oh, Doctor!"

"Ginger. You're still alive. Interesting..." I broke from the hug and slapped him on his cheek. Hard.

"Where the hell have you been? 7 months, Doctor. 7 fucking months!"

"7 months?!" He was feeling his cheeks for a bit. It was bright red. "The last time I saw you was half an hour ago!"

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, of course! Right! Faster time streams. I should've known. I saw you get taken away, Ginger. They must've took you to a faster time stream. Did you have a place to live in?"

"Yeah, actually, the gave me a penthouse. What is all this mumbo jumbo about faster time streams?"

"You were in a place in which time worked faster than here. Listen to me, Ginger. They want to clone you. They have been looking after you for a very long time now and run scans on your genetic information 24/7. Their species of humans is dying off. They need you to start it again. They have dumped several qualified human beings before you, but for some reason, they admire you. You've realized your mistake when you found your way into trouble by sneaking into the ground floor, right? That action made you complete the "preparation" part of the process."

"How did you know I was sneaki-" Several men in black military uniforms and guns came in and started shooting at us. The Doctor snuck behind the pod that caged me. They weren't aiming at me. 

"It's ok!" I hear the Doctor shout. "They won't hurt you. They need you alive, Rose!"

"What?! Did you just-"

"Oh, for Christ's sake. Whatever! You're both damn plants. Just take this." He threw me his sonic screwdriver. "Go to the staff floor. Point and shoot at any monitor, computer, anything! Go!"

I pushed past the men in black; they didn't notice me. I ran to the elevator at the end of this hallway and pushed the button for the first floor. I was on floor 631. "Fuck!" I bang my head on the walls of the elevator, and the whole thing shuts off. The lights go out and it stops moving. I was barely on the 629th floor. There was no way I could make it in time even if I found a way to climb down.

Suddenly, there's a hologram in front of me. It was of the lady in the business suit. "Hello, Ms. Mallory. Please do not be alarmed. We are here to help. One of our staff members will redirect you to the the examination room in a moment. Also, please do not scream or shout as to damage your vocal chords during your attempts of escape. I have already taken the liberty of gassing the elevator. Do not worry, the gas will send you to a dream-like unconscious state. No pain shall be caused to you."

The hologram shut itself off, and I could hear the gas being pumped in. I shouted and banged on the elevator door. She lied to me; I had already begun coughing my lungs out. I started pointing the screwdriver everyone. There was a loud bussing sound coming from it, and the door opened. Sprinting outside, I could see a large man with a gas mask and metal armor at one end of the hall come after me. The man was enormous; he must've been at least 9 feet tall.

I ran in the other direction. Opening the door, I found myself in an ice rink. Several performers were rehearsing. I risked it and ran on the ice with my damn converse on. I heard several people shout in unison, yelling for me to stop, but they didn't take any action.

I slipped on the ice and fell hard onto the cold ground. Fortunately, I ran with enough velocity to slide across the rink. I managed to pick myself up when I neared the edge of the ice rink. There was a wooden door that led to another hall. The man still stomping after me, cracking the ice now with each footstep.

I gathered myself onto my feet and opened the door only to find the most odious thing that could possibly happen at the moment. There was nothing. It was a damn wall. I had nowhere to run; the man was slowing down his pace the closer he was getting to me.

I was absolutely defenseless now. The ice skaters all took hold of the rails on the side of the ice rink. The ice cracked more and more. Realizing what was about to happen, I ran to the side of the rink, aware I would never make it in time to grab hold of the rails as it was much too far. The whole ice rink was about the break in half, and the man was completely oblivious it all.

I was only able to move a few feet before the ground below me began to shift. It was falling through the actual floor of this level. The giant man was the first to go down with it.

I held on the edges of the ice; the ice was starting to tilt, and it was becoming harder to hold on. Cuts were bound to happen. As I thought I would inevitably fall to the floor about 30 feet below me, one of the ice skaters took hold of my hand and dragged me back up. Catching my breath, I could see a gaping hole in the middle of the ice rink. The other skaters were frantically running through the spectator seats in their skimpy, exotic uniforms.

I turned back the ice skater. She saved my life. She had long black hair and light brown skin. She couldn't be one of them. "Take this!" she says, her voice hoarse. She hands me a purple, raggedy handbag. Before I could react or respond, I hear a gunshot, and she falls to the cold, ice floor.

I cover my mouth with my hands in shock. I traced the angle of trajectory back to the entrance of this level. There, the lady in the business suit was standing, holding a handgun. How could she have made that shot to the skater's head? She was several kilometers away. I tried to hide somewhere, but it was still extremely difficult, considering I was in an ice rink.

To my surprise, the lady left, and the others followed. They didn't see me. 

~*~

I was able to roam around the building without being spotted. Once I reached the staff floor, I did what the Doctor has instructed me. I click the button on the screwdriver and point it to the computer monitors, and they shut down. In less than a minute, the Doctor is in the room. "Doctor!" I was so glad to see him.

The Doctor walked right past me, inspecting the room. "Doctor?" I say again.

"Heh? Oh! Ginger, it's you. You did it. Now give me my sonic screwdriver back." He snatches it from me and sniffs me a bit. "You smell... Strange."

"What?"

"You smell like cotton. Cotton and rusting, iron pipes to be exact."

"It's probably this handbag..."

"Can I see that?" I hand it to him, and he opens it. "Interesting... There's a necklace inside. I know these types of necklaces. They're perception filters. How did you manage to get this."

"A lady risked her life to save me. She wasn't like the others, all sickly and pale. She was beautiful and full of color, and she died."

"I'm sorry. She must've known this would occur somehow. Did you catch her name?"

"No."

"Keep this necklace." He reaches for my hands and drops the necklace in them. "You might need it one day. It's got a fancy button, too! You click it, and it turns off. You can click it back on, as well."

"Hah. Thanks, Doctor." I put the necklace on and turn it off. It was heart-shaped and gold. "That lady. Who was she?"

"Not sure. On the bright side, the people are all dead. Well, not actually dead. They were machines and tampering with the computers caused them to malfunction and go into a state of emergency. A. K. A. Sleep mode. Indefinitely."

"Ok, so robots that wanted to clone me. That's um... Not something you hear every day."

~*~

"Does this happen to you often, Doctor?"

"And by 'this' you mean?..."

"Dying. People dying for the sake of you and your companions staying alive."

"It wasn't just us, Ginger. It was the whole population. Those cyber people were secretly controlling a whole nation outside those walls. They experimented with thousands of people to genetically clone and mutate to their liking. Their race wasn't going extinct. They wanted to create controllable human beings because you people are animals. Other races can barely keep you on leashes. Which is a good thing. The human race is independent. I've always like that about you."

"Why me, then?"

"No clue. Maybe, they just really liked you. Good thing too because if they didn't, they would've disposed of you."

"Disposed of me?... How?"

"No idea, but I bet it wouldn't be pretty. Enough talk about this. We saved many lives including our own. Now, let's talk coffee."


End file.
